Children's Home run by Kingston upon Hull City Council in Kingston upon Hull

Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC034495 1 SC034495

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Hull City Council

Monitoring visit Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The local authority operates this home. It is registered to meet the needs of children who have a learning disability. It currently provides care and accommodation for three children in long-term care and 18 children receiving short-term breaks. A second manager was registered in November 2020 when the existing manager was seconded to cover another post within the council.

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This monitoring visit

The home was last inspected in November 2019, when a full inspection was carried out.

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This monitoring visit

Due to the restrictions in place relating to the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic, this visit was carried out off site. The visit was to investigate potential breaches of regulations in relation to the management of children’s complex health issues. The visit included a review of documents, feedback from children and discussions with staff and relevant professionals.

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This monitoring visit

Children in the home have disabilities and complex health needs. For some, these are both life limiting and life threatening. When children move into the home, staff work with health professionals to learn about the children’s specific diagnoses and conditions. This means that children are supported by staff who understand the risks associated with the children’s health problems and can respond to them appropriately.

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This monitoring visit

When a child moves into the home on an emergency basis, the staff engage quickly with relevant persons to ensure that the staff team understands the child’s needs. This results in the child receiving consistent and personalised care as soon as they arrive at the home. Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC034495 2 Some children in the home have seizures. Staff respond to these by delivering immediate emergency care and medication. This is intended to stop or reduce the length of the seizure. Staff do this reliably and effectively, which reduces the risk of harm and promotes a quicker recovery. When a child has a serious or prolonged seizure, staff call for an ambulance. This ensures that children receive treatment from a qualified medical professional when they need it.

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This monitoring visit

Some healthcare and medication plans are written by the children’s consultant or medical specialist and followed by staff. Staff hold frequent meetings to discuss the plans to make sure that they understand them and learn of any changes or developments. The medication records clearly show when and what medication is administered. Staff are trained to do this safely and follow the home’s procedure with care. This means that the children have the correct medication to keep them well.

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This monitoring visit

Children make good progress in the home. One child has gained a healthy weight, has improved mobility and now interacts more with children and adults. The child has also started to eat orally and attend regularly at school. These are significant achievements for this child. Professionals said of one child that the care received made them ‘unrecognisable’ in levels of confidence and visibly improved health and well-being.

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This monitoring visit

During the pandemic, training for staff was disrupted and face-to-face courses were not possible. To compensate, there was online learning, small group training and bespoke sessions delivered by specialist practitioners. The system for monitoring who had attended these was not well maintained by managers, and it was not clear which parts of the usual training these extra sessions covered. This means that the manager could not be reassured that everyone who needed to attend training had done so.

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This monitoring visit

The health information about children is recorded on multiple documents. If a change or review happens, then information needs to be updated in several locations. This does not consistently happen, and some documents are contradictory or slightly out of date. This does not always provide robust documentation for staff to refer to.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 13/11/2019 Full Outstanding 09/10/2018 Full Outstanding 30/01/2018 Full Outstanding 10/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 29/11/2016 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC034495 3

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person(s) must take to meet the Care Standards Act 2000, Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’. The registered person(s) must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(h))

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Requirement Due date

This is with reference to maintaining an accurate record of all staff training. 30 April 2021

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records (‘case records’) for each child which—

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Requirement Due date

include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child;

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Requirement Due date

are signed and dated by the author of each entry.

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Requirement Due date

This is with reference to ensuring that information is consistent across different parts of the child’s record and is up to date. 30 April 2021 Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC034495 4

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Information about this inspection

The purpose of this visit was to monitor the action taken and the progress made by the children’s home since its last Ofsted inspection.

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Information about this inspection

This inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000.

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Kingston upon Hull City Council, The Guildhall, Alfred Gelder Street, Hull HU1 2AA

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Children’s home details

Registered managers: Stephen Houghton, Rebecca Spaven

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Inspector

Rachel Ruth, Social Care Regulatory Inspector Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC034495 5 to achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children’s social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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